Intelligent Deliverable Message Annotation

1. A method for enabling recipients to share tags that they associate with received e-mails, the method comprising the following operations performed by at least one processor: receiving an e-mail from a sending user addressed to a receiving user, the e-mail including a header and a body and being capable of supporting attachments to the e-mail that are distinct of the body; enabling the receiving user to associate at least one tag with the e-mail, the at least one tag being a textual descriptor for the received e-mail distinct from the header, body, and attachments of the received e-mail; storing the received e-mail and the at least one tag in a data store associated with the receiving user; enabling the receiving user to select a subset of other users to receive the at least one tag, wherein the other users comprise one or more of the sending user and other recipients of the e-mail to whom the sending user sent the e-mail; and propagating the at least one tag to the selected subset of other users, wherein the propagation occurs without a user response to the received e-mail and becomes viewable upon propagation to the selected subset of other users.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein enabling the receiving user to associate the at least one tag with the e-mail comprises enabling the receiving user to assign the at least one tag to the e-mail for subsequent use as a basis for determining, in response to a search query submitted by the receiving user, a subset of stored e-mails that are addressed to the receiving user.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein propagating the at least one tag to the subset of other users comprises sending the at least one tag to the at least one of the sending user and the other recipient as a proposed tag such that the at least one of the sending user and the other recipient can select to assign the proposed tag to the e-mail for subsequent use as a basis for determining, in response to a search query submitted by the at least one of the sending user and the other recipient, a subset of stored e-mails that are sent by or addressed to the at least one of the sending user and the other recipient.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein propagating the at least one tag to the subset of other users comprises automatically sending the at least one tag as a proposed tag for the e-mail to at least one of the sending user and the other recipient in accordance with predetermined send tag rules.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined send tag rules are specific to the receiving user.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein automatically sending the at least one tag as a proposed tag in accordance with the send tag rules comprises automatically sending the at least one tag conditioned on the at least one tag being a new tag created by the receiving user for the e-mail.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein automatically sending the at least one tag as a proposed tag in accordance with the send tag rules comprises automatically sending the at least one tag conditioned on the at least one tag being an update of an old tag previously received from and created by the sending user or the other recipient for the e-mail.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein automatically sending the at least one tag as a proposed tag in accordance with the send tag rules comprises automatically sending the at least one tag to at least one of the sending user and the other recipient conditioned on a subject matter of the e-mail in the header matching a particular subject matter predefined by the receiving user.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the particular subject matter is selected by the receiving user.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein automatically sending the at least one tag as a proposed tag in accordance with the send tag rules comprises automatically sending the at least one tag to at least one of the sending user and the other recipient conditioned on the body of the e-mail including one or more terms that match one or more particular predetermined terms.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the one or more particular predetermined terms are selected by the receiving user.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein automatically sending the at least one tag as a proposed tag for the e-mail in accordance with the send tag rules comprises automatically sending the at least one tag to the sending user and to all other recipients of the e-mail to whom the sender sent the e-mail.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein automatically sending the at least one tag as a proposed tag for the e-mail in accordance with the send tag rules comprises automatically sending the at least one tag to one or more users selected by the receiving user, the one or more users including at least one of the sending user and the other recipient.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein propagating the at least one tag to the subset of other users comprises enabling the receiving user to interact with a graphical user interface to manually select the subset of other users to receive the at least one tag as a proposed tag for the e-mail.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein enabling the receiving user to associate the at least one tag with the e-mail comprises automatically generating and assigning the at least one tag to the e-mail based on predetermined tag generation rules specified by or for the receiving user.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein generating and assigning the at least one tag to the e-mail based on the tag generation rules includes generating and assigning a particular tag to the e-mail conditioned on the sending user being a particular sender.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein generating and assigning the at least one tag to the e-mail based on the tag generation rules includes generating and assigning a particular tag to the e-mail conditioned on one of the recipients of the e-mail to whom the sending user sent the e-mail being a particular recipient.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein generating and assigning the at least one tag to the e-mail based on the tag generation rules includes generating and assigning a particular updated tag corresponding to an update of a particular proposed tag to the e-mail conditioned on the sending user or the other recipient sending the particular proposed tag to the receiving user.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein generating and assigning the at least one tag to the e-mail based on the tag generation rules includes generating and assigning a particular tag to the e-mail conditioned on a subject matter of the e-mail in the header matching a particular subject matter.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the particular subject matter is selected by the receiving user.

21. A method for enabling a user to identify and then access a subset of received e-mails, the method comprising the following operations performed by at least one processor: receiving an e-mail from a sending user addressed to a receiving user, the e-mail including a header having a subject line inputted by the sending user and a body having message contents inputted by the sending user, the e-mail being capable of supporting attachments to the e-mail that are distinct of the body; subsequent to the receiving user receiving the e-mail from the sending user, receiving a proposed tag associated with the e-mail from another user by a direct communication separate from the e-mail or a reply to the e-mail, the proposed tag being designated by the another user to a subset of users associated with the e-mail and being a textual descriptor of the message contents of the e-mail and the textual descriptor also being distinct of the subject line, message contents, and attachments of the e-mail; enabling the receiving user to select an option to store the proposed tag and assign the proposed tag to the e-mail for subsequent use as a basis for identifying, in response to a search query submitted by the receiving user, a subset of stored e-mails that are addressed to the receiving user.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein assigning the proposed tag to the e-mail comprises enabling the receiving user to perceive the proposed tag in a graphical user interface and to manually interact with the graphical user interface to select an option to assign the proposed tag to the e-mail.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein assigning the proposed tag to the e-mail comprises automatically assigning the proposed tag to the e-mail based on predetermined tag acceptance rules.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the predetermined tag acceptance rules are specific to the receiving user.

25. A method for enabling a user to access e-mails, the method comprising the following operations performed by at least one processor: receiving e-mails from e-mail senders, each of the e-mails being addressed to a receiving user, including a header and a body, and being capable of supporting attachments to the e-mail that are distinct of the body; enabling the receiving user to associate at least one tag with each of the e-mails and select a subset of other users to receive the at least one tag, wherein the other users comprise the sending user and other recipients of the e-mail to whom the sending user sent the e-mail; enabling the receiving user to accept a proposed tag associated with the e-mail from another user by a direct communication separate from the e-mail or a reply to the e-mail, the proposed tag being designated by the other user, the at least one tag and proposed tag being a textual descriptor for the e-mail that is distinct of the header, the body, and the attachments of the e-mail; storing the e-mails and associated tags in a data store; enabling the receiving user to input a textual boolean search query; determining a subset of the e-mails by applying the textual boolean search query to the tags associated with the e-mails; and enabling the receiving user to perceive the subset of the e-mails.